e-Audio, 08:52:16
Narrated by: Reba Buhr
Release Date: January 24, 2023
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Read from: January 17-19, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this audiobook from the Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Murder, Gaslighting, Bullying, Kidnapping, Toxic friendships
For Readers Interested In: Thrillers, Lies, Romance, Mysteries, Social Media Influencers, YASometimes the prettiest Instagram feeds hide the darkest—and bloodiest—secrets.
Social media influencer Summer Cartwright leads a charmed life: millions of followers, the trendiest designer and vintage clothing in her closet, a newly minted book deal, the coolest friends, and until recently, the hottest boyfriend at her über elite prep school. Every moment of her life has been carefully planned and cultivated to complement her “perfectly imperfect” online persona. She is truly #LivingHerBestLife.
But when Summer goes missing during her annual Halloween party and an unscheduled post appears on her feed claiming she’ll be dead in the next five minutes, those closest to Summer—her bestie, her ex-boyfriend, her frenemy, and her wannabe—know it isn’t a media stunt for attention. It’s not Summer’s brand. Something is wrong. When their investigation leads to Summer’s lifeless body, they’re forced to accept that she was murdered. And no filter is strong enough to mask the lies they tell themselves.
Told in multiple POVs interspersed with social media posts and flashbacks, Live Your Best Lie has twists and turns that will keep readers turning the page and no one will be able to guess the ending.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This book was so damn messy and I loved it. I have to say it was more about the subject matter than the actual characters. This was so strange for me because I’m usually a character centered reader, so when I read books with terrible main characters, I usually hate it. But for whatever reason, I didn’t with this one…
The terrible main character is a social media influencer who is just about to release a book about her experience as an influencer. But at a party she’s throwing, she’s killed…. But by who? As it turns out she’s a bully and has been for a while. And that is what made me hate her lol But then she got killed and I felt bad. But the rest of the characters were also terrible. I’m not sure what kept me reading this, but I stayed and I was actually surprised in the end.
The plot of this is what drove this home for me. I was glued to the pages. The main character wasn’t who we thought she was throughout the whole book. So seeing it play out was really out there. Some of the things that happened I was not expecting. And man, them damn teens were some good ass liars. I couldn’t tell who it was. I had a theory, but I didn’t make it till close to the end because the clues lead you to that.
The ending of this was terrible tho. It literally went off the rails and I really don’t know how we got there. And I really wish authors would give us all the clues in the book and stop throwing out a clue here and there to keep us from guessing. Because when it finally comes down to it, the ending always feels hella rushed. And this one was the same. And it hardly even made sense. Because even after the killer was revealed, there’s still someone that comes up and gives more info on the killer. Like had you hinted to this or even revealed this in the story, I probably would have guessed it. I know the object isn’t to guess it, but let me not guess it because your writing is good. Not because you’re purposely witholding clues from me. I don’t know how to explain it.
This book was good, and I liked the subject matter, even though I didn’t like the characters. The whole thing made me hate everyone, so be careful who you trust! I don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give any spoilers. But if you choose to read this, please know that the writing style is good, up until the ending, and literally all the characters are terrible. If you can deal with that, you will be fine.
Overall, I give this
